Now THAT was a Firedrill!

I think I mentioned that we have an offer in on another house. We haven't heard anything from the sellers bank yet- so we really don't even have any sort of guess on when we could move but being the ultra-conservative plan A, B, C kind of girl I figured that we needed to list our house for rent sooner rather than later.

So Friday afternoon around 3:45 my realtor listed our house in the MLS- we didn't even have any photos online. I have been watching other rentals in our neighborhood and it seemed the going trend was that they were listed for anywhere from 60-90 days and then found renters at decreased rents. Neither was a prospect I was looking forward to.

Anyway- we listed the house on Friday and should I admit that I forgot about it? Until I got a call from a realtor at 10:30 Sunday morning wanting to show the house in two hours. We had company in town (thanks for the extra hands Kymmie!) but we said we would show it. And then we scurried about tucking things in dark corners and behind closed doors.

It turned out that the potential tenant loved the place. We talked business and told him we would take a lesser rent if they would sign a two year contract with an option for a third. They were my dream tenants. Only one catch- they wanted the place like now. So we settled on July 3rd as a possession date. OMG. What was I thinking?

I didn't sleep last night- running through the list of things that needed to be done for us to move out. Finish the backyard landscaping. Touch up paint. Schedule movers. Schedule someone to disassemble the pool table. Oh wait- here's one- find somewhere else to live! With two kids, two cats, and four thousand square feet worth of furniture. Pack- who can forget about packing? And we don't want to stay long- actually we don't even know how long we want to stay. Could be 60 days. Could be six months.

So today I made my list. I called movers. I scheduled someone to break down the pool table. I had my realtor calling on rentals. And around 3:30 this afternoon the tenant backed out. Ordinarily I think I would have been upset but honestly, I am quite relieved. I was so not prepared to move in fourteen days. I do not want to pay money to move twice. I am not even sure the short sale is going to get approved- and I would hate to give up my beautiful home and then have to go find one to rent for myself if I do move a tenant in.

But now that the firedrill is over I have learned a few things about preparedness. I had my realtor revise the availability date on our home to August 15th. I am bringing home a few more boxes from work. I am now a bit more confident that with the flurry of activity in just two days that we will definitely find a renter for our home in a timely manner. We'll see how things go over the next few weeks. Hopefully we will have some good news- both from the seller's bank for the home we are in contract for and with regards to finding a tenant for our home.

Comments

[Crys]

congrats on finding tenants! Even if it is a bit stressed and rushed! We're currently looking at houses too.

[Minnie]

Oh my. My head was spinning for you. I hate that "rushed" feeling.

Sounds like their backing out is for the best.